Inflated escape ramps

ABSTRACT

The invention comprises an inflatable ramp particularly designed to serve as an escape or a discretionary ramp for association with aircraft usage in an emergency type situation. The convex shaped lobes on the ramp serve as omniangle steps regardless of the angle of the ramp with the relationship to the horizontal, wherein the entire ramp is packageable within the aircraft structure. The specific construction of the ramp utilizing dual wall thread connected inflatable fabric is important to the operational structure of the invention, and to the fabrication of the ramp which will have sufficient strength to withstand passenger traffic or other loading when deplaning without collapsing, and in addition permit reentry into the plane cabin. It can further be used for deplaning injured people confined to stretchers and so forth.

United States Patent [191 Blateet al.

[ INF LATED ESCAPE RANIPS [73] Assignee: Goodyear Aerospace Corporation,

Akron, Ohio 22 Filed: Mar. 8, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 121,954

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 753,351, Aug.19, 1968,

abandoned.

[52] U.S.Cl. ..193/25 B,l82/48 [51] lnt.Cl ..B65g 11/10 [58]FieldofSearch ..l93/25,25B; 244/137; 182/48; 52/2 [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 2,830,606 4/1958 Daugherty ..52/2 3,137,307 6/1964Scurlock.... ..52/2 3,247,627 4/1966 Bird ..52/2 3,458,009 7/1969 Favors..182/48 [451 Apr. 10, 1973 9/1969 Robinsky ..52/2 X 3,466,685 3,476,338ll/1969 Fisher ..193/25 B X 3,473,641 10/1969 Fisher ..193/25 B FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS ABSTRACT ramp serve as omniangle stepsregardless of the angle of the ramp with the relationship to thehorizontal,

I wherein the entire ramp is packageable within the aircraft structure.The specific construction of the ramp utilizing dual wall threadconnected inflatable fabric is important to the operational structure ofthe invention, and to the fabrication of the ramp which will havesufficient strength to withstand passenger traffic or other loading whendeplaning without collapsing,

and in addition permit reentry into the plane cabin. It can further beused for deplaning injured people confined to stretchers and so forth.

9 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTEBAPRIOIQYE: 3 5

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Ll HARR OR ERED W. MELLOR OBERT' S. ROSS E O NALD B. TSCHUDY ATTORNEYSINFLATED ESCAPE RAMPS This is I a continuation of application Ser. No.753,351 filed Aug. 19, 1968 now abandoned.

Heretofore it has been well known that one of the major causes of humancasualty in aircraft crashes is not that the persons are killed upon thecrash, but are killed by the subsequent fire which envelopes thefuselage. Hence, rapid means of escape from the fuselage is important tothe preservation of human life. I-Ieretofore, these attempts have beenmade by chute I type escape ramps which can be quickly dropped from theplane and allow people to slide in a sitting position from the plane tothe ground. However, these chutes are difficult to stabilize, and arenot readily adaptable to various angles that they may take with relationto the ground depending upon the height of the aircraft over the groundat the time of use. Further, if the angle is steep, the persons slidingare quite susceptible to sustaining considerable injury on the chute orwhen they hit the ground at the end of the slide. A type of ramp thatcan be inflated and used for emergency purposes which will allow thepersons to walk down the ramp or move rapidly in an upright positionwith a great deal of stability or reenter even at very steeply inclinedangles is needed by the art.

Therefore, it is the general object of the present invention to providean inflatable ramp particularly designed to be utilized as an escape ordiscretionary ramp for aircraft in a crash-type situation where the rampis designed to work at various angles with relation to the aircraft, andto allow the persons to deplane by walking down the ramp in an uprightposition rather than sliding.

The aforesaid objects of the invention and other objects which willbecome apparent as the description proceeds are achieved by providing aninflatable escape device which comprises an elongated, wide, andrelatively flat ramp made from dual wall thread connected inflatablefabric, and a plurality of uniformly spaced, raised, substantiallyconvex steps extending transversely the length of the ramp and formedintegrally to the top surface of the ramp by controlling the length andposition of the threads connecting the dual walls of the fabrics.

For a better understanding of the invention reference should be made tothe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the ramp in position in association withan aircraft showing how it extends down from the aircraftto the groundin its emergency extended position.

FIG. 2 is a greatly enlarged, partially broken-away and elevation of theramp showing the lobe step configuration of the ramp in an inclinedposition as it would look to a person about to enter from the bottom endthereof;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the lobe portion of the basic ramptaken on line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, cross-sectional illustration I showing the sideedges of the lobe connecting to the sides of the ramp, and the dropthread configuration between the dual fabrics to achieve this contouredrelationship;

FIG. 5 is a reduced size end elevation of the ramp in a horizontalposition showing the size of the sides, the side windows, and the top inrelation to the lobed ramp portion;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, cross-sectional illustration of the connectionbetween the ramp lobes and the side walls utilizing a flanged mat forsuch connection;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional illustration of a modified lobe embodimentof the invention to more fully simulate a normal angle stepconfiguration;

FIG. 8 is a reduced size, cross-sectional illustration of a handrailattached to the side wall;

FIG. 9 is a modified embodiment of another handrail attached to the sidewall;

FIG. 10 is an end elevation showing a modified embodiment of the ramputilizing side walls without a top, where the side walls are curled backon themselves at their upper edges for strengthening purposes; and

FIG. 11 is an end elevational view of a modified embodiment of theinvention utilizing side walls with upper edges having increasedthickness to enhance the strength characteristics thereof.

With reference to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 of the invention,the numeral 10 indicates generally an aircraft which has crash landedonto the ground-12, and is supported on its nose wheel 14. An inflatableramp indicated generally by numeral 16 has been deployed from the sideof the aircraft 10 with one end mounted and connected to the side of theaircraft 10 by a connecting panel 18 mounted with a girt 20 attached tothe fuselage. The other end of the ramp 16, at 22, rests on the ground12. In order to provide additional support to the end 22 of the ramp l6and transfer load from the base to the sides, support cylinders 21 areattached by straps 23 extending therearound to connect the bottom to thesides of the ramp 16. The instant invention does not include thepackaging configuration nor the means to achieve inflation anddeployment of the ramp with respect to the aircraft, but onlycontemplates that any suitable means to package and deploy the ramp willbe utilized. This invention is concerned with the construction of theramp itself, be it in the inflated or deflated condition, and how itprovides a safer and more efficient deplaning ramp for emergencysituations than those chutes or slides heretofore provided.

A unique feature of the invention is achieved in the actual constructionof the ramp itself by providing a gated 'wide relatively flat bed orbase, indicated generally by numeral 26, which is effectively contouredon at least the top surface thereof to provide the lobes or steps 24referred to above, Normally, the invention contemplates that the base orbed 26 will be made from dual wall thread connected inflatable fabric asmade by Goodyear Aerospace Corporation of Akron, Ohio,

under the trade name Formdair," whereby the lobes or steps 24 can beformed as an integral contour of the base 26 by suitable adjustment ofthe length of the'drop threads connecting the dual wall fabric.

This structural configuration is shown most clearly in FIG. 3 where atop fabric 30 is connected to a bottom fabric 32 by a plurality of dropthreads indicated generally by numeral 34. The contour to provide thelobes 24 is achieved by varying the length of the drop threadsconnecting the fabrics 30 and 32. As is quite evident from the showingin FIG. 3, the drop thread lengths are variably adjusted so as toeffectively provide substantially circularly shaped lobes 24 with asmooth and continuous reversing contour in the connecting sectionsbetween the adjacent lobes. In this manner, the strain on adjacent dropthreads 34 is always substantially the same so that no points of highstress are present in this structural configuration. The inventioncontemplates that a suitable material for the drop threads 34 and thefabrics 30 and 32 would be Nomex, a high temperature nylon fireresistant material as made by E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co., of about200 lbs. tensile strength.

In order to give the passengers deplaning on the ramp of the inventionassurance of safety, and to prevent the possibility of them falling orsliding down the ramp, the invention provides sidewalls 40 and 42, againalso made from dual wall thread connected inflatable fabric andconnected integrally to the edges of the base or bed 26 alongsubstantially the full length thereof, as is clearly evident fromFIG. 1. Also, each of the side walls has a longitudinally extendinghandrail 40a and 42a, respectively extending the length thereof toassist passenger safety. The preferred embodiment of the inventionincorporates a top 44, also made from an inflatable fabric connectingthe sides 40 and 42 along its adjacent edges and again the contours inthe top and sides are achieved by the weaving technique of Formdair bycontrolling the length of the drop yarns to achieve the desiredconfiguration.

FIG. more clearly illustrates the cross-sectional configuration of theescape ramp as a whole and shows that the top 44 is the same width asthe bottom or bed 26. A taper of the side walls 40 and 42 into an Ashaped or I shaped configuration can also be given to the ramp. FIG. 5also illustrates how the windows look in relation to the sides, whichlikewise is clearly evident from the side view of FIG. 1. The windowsare optional, of course, but have been found to give a deplaningpassenger some better sense of orientation with respect to thesurrounding terrain, and thus not make deplaning passengers perhapsafraid to hurry.

down the steps to safety. They further permit escape from the ramp ifever necessary.

FIG. 5 illustrates rather clearly, as is also shown in FIG. 2, that theside walls 40 and 42 and top 44 are of considerably less thickness thanthe lobes 24 of base or bed 26. Naturally, this causes some problem inconnecting the base or bed 26 to the side walls 40 and 42. Essentially,this connection is achieved by varying the length of the drop yarnsbetween the side walls and the lobes 24. This actual relation of thedrop yarns to the dual wall fabric is shown in FIG. 4 of the drawingsbetween the side wall 40 and a lobe 24. Again, the appropriate variationin the length of the drop yarns is quite important to prevent theformation of local stress or cause too much loading on any particulardrop yarn, which naturally would cause it to fail, and thus provide aprogressive failure of the drop yarn connection between the fabrics.

The calculation of the length for each drop thread in achieving thecontoured configuration between the base, lobes, sides, and top may beachieved by a vectorial analysis much the same as the length of thevertical suspension cables are determined in a suspension bridge, thisof course being done to give nearly uniform loads in each suspensionmember at the designed inflated and loaded condition of the ramp. Thiscareful determination of the drop yarn lengths improves the basicstructure of an interrupted deep Formdair" restrained strip which mightbe utilized to provide lobes in such a way as to make each drop threadcarry an equal load to give a better and more uniform construction whileloaded and at the same time retain in the overall construction a maximumof full stability while inflated and flexibility while deflated, as wellas leakproof joint construction, because there will be no undue strainat any particular location.

FIG. 6 illustrates a modified embodiment of the invention for connectingthe lobe 24 to the side. This is in the form of a flanged dual wallinflatable fabric, indicated generally by numeral 50 which has lappingextensions 50a and 50b on each side thereof which may be adhesively orotherwise suitably secured to the respective side or lobe. Normally, thenumber of drop threads in the flanged section 50 will be greater than inthe lobe or side so as to give a maximum strength at the point of thiscontoured joining. There are many adhesives presently available on themarket that will give an extremely strong bonded relationship to theextended flaps, and if this form of construction is carefullyundertaken, it can be accomplished more quickly, and at less expensethan the totally woven configuration shown in FIG. 4.

Naturally, the flange mat sections 50 can be from a straight or curvedor tapered Formdair stock which simply include attachment flaps at eachedge. This type of flanged connection in the building of restrainedpressure vessels provides the advantages of a much more foldable webintersection, a lighter weight system, and greater ease of fabrication.The flanged mat construction also permits consideration of the use ofmany more restraining webs or sections of various configuration to joinlarge Formdair" sections resulting in a superior restrained pressurevessel structure.

In order to provide a more truly step like configuration to the ramp,additional smaller convex lobes 60 might be provided on top of the basiclobe 24 with the use of drop threads or web restraint as shown, if thisis selectively desired. In fact, a plurality of such lobes ofincreasingly smaller size would eventually approximate an exact 90relationship between adjacent lobes very similar to a normal stepconstruction. Of course, it is also possible to form the Formdair withthe variable length drop threads to a 90 step relation directly,although this limits the omni-angle usage of the ramp.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate modified embodiments for mounting hand rails tothe side wall so as to have finger room between the edge of the handrail and the side wall. FIG. 8 achieves this by positioning a firsttubular member attached on one side thereof to the side wall 72, andthen positioning a second tubular member 74 in the upper outer quadrantthereof so that there is a spaced relationship as at 76 between themember 74 and the side wall 72 to allow one'to firmly grasp the member74 with his fingers and use this as a hand rail. The inventioncontemplates that both tubular members 70 and 74 will be pressureinflated through appropriate with appropriate shorter drop threads so asto provide alobe or small node 84 to which a first pressurized tubularmember 86 is attached. A reduced diameter connecting portion 88 might beutilized to connect a second pressurized tubular member 90 to tube 86 inspaced relationship so as to allow an individual to firmly grasp theouter member 90 with his hand and fingers.

FIGS. and 11 represent modified embodiments of the side walls withoutthe use of a top, but with the same basic ramp configuration of theinvention. In FIG. 10, the side walls are folded back onto themselves at100 and 102 to give an enlarged strengthening configuration to the upperedges so as to prevent buckling. Note the position and configuration ofhand rails 104 and 106. In the configuration of FIG. 11, the upper edgesof the side walls are enlarged at 110 and 112, this being done byappropriately varying the lengthof the drop yarns in this inflatableFormdair material, to provide an enlarged and strengthened portion alongthe upper edge of the side walls. Again a modified mount ing embodimentfor hand rails 114 and 116 is illustrated.

While in accordance with the patent statutes only one best knownembodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described indetail, it is to be particularly understood that the invention is notlimited thereto or thereby, but that the inventive scope is defined inthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An inflatable ramp forattachment to an aircraft which comprises anelongated, wide, and relatively flat ramp made from dual wall inflatablefabric, means connecting the fabric, and a plurality of spaced raisedcurvate steps of sufficient size and spacing to conform for use by humanbeings, said steps extending transversely to the length of the ramp andformed integrally into the top surface of said ramp by controlling thelength and position of the means connecting the walls of the fabric,means for attaching one end of the ramp to an aircraft fuselage adjacentan exit thereof, and inflatable sidewalls attached along the lateraledges of the ramp and extending upwardly to provide support for the rampand human beings using same.

2. An inflatable ramp according to claim 1 where attaching means areprovided at one end thereof to connect the ramp to a structure fromwhich it can extend, and includes reinforcing means at the other end ofthe ramp to support that end of engagement with the surface of theground.

3. An inflatable ramp according to claim 2 which includes sides madefrom a dual wall inflatable fabric extending vertically from each edgeof the ramp and running substantially the full length thereof, saidsides being connected to the ramp by connections allowing transferloading from the ramp to the sides.

4. A ramp according to claim 3 where the sides are not as thick wheninflated as the ramp but have a widened and strengthened top edge toprevent buckling thereof.

S. A ramp according to claim 4 where the top edge of each side curlsback on itself to provide the widened and'strengthened relationship.

6. A ramp according to claim 4 where threads connect the dual wallfabrics of the sides and the dual wall fabrics of the ramp and areappropriately varied in length to achieve a gradual and symmetricalchange of contour from the ramp to the sides and between the raisedsteps of the ramp without putting undue strain on any of the threads. v

7. A ramp according to claim 4 where the sides are connected to the rampwith short connecting dual wall thread connected flanges with the fabricthereof overlapping the fabric of the walls and ramp and adhesivelysecured thereto, and where the threads of the flanges are appropriatelyvaried in length to provide a contour between the fabrics thereof and asmooth contour between the sides and the ramp.

8. An inflatable ramp according to claim 1 which includes a topconnecting the sides and holding the sides in spaced and stabilizedrelation to the ramp.

9. An inflatable ramp according to claim 1 which includes additionalsmaller convex inflatable lobes attached to the surface of each step toprovide a larger stepping surface for use by human beings.

1. An inflatable ramp for attachment to an aircraft which comprises anelongated, wide, and relatively flat ramp made from dual wall inflatablefabric, means connecting the fabric, and a plurality of spaced raisedcurvate steps of sufficient size and spacing to conform for use by humanbeings, said steps extending transversely to the length of the ramp andformed integrally into the top surface of said ramp by controlling thelength and position of the means connecting the walls of the fabric,means for attaching one end of the ramp to an aircraft fuselage adjacentan exit thereof, and inflatable sidewalls attached along the lateraledges of the ramp and extending upwardly to provide support for the rampand human beings using same.
 2. An inflatable ramp according to claim 1where attaching means are provided at one end thereof to connect theramp to a structure from which it can extend, and includes reinforcingmeans at the other end of the ramp to support that end of engagementwith the surface of the ground.
 3. An inflatable ramp according to claim2 which includes sides made from a dual wall inflatable fabric extendingvertically from each edge of the ramp and running substantially the fulllength thereof, said sides being connected to the ramp by connectionsallowing transfer loading from the ramp to the sides.
 4. A rampaccording to claim 3 where the sides are not as thick when inflated asthe ramp but have a widened and strengthened top edge to preventbuckling thereof.
 5. A ramp according to claim 4 where the top edge ofeach side curls back on itself to provide the widened and strengthenedrelationship.
 6. A ramp according to claim 4 where threads connect thedual wall fabrics of the sides and the dual wall fabrics of the ramp andare appropriately varied in length to achieve a gradual and symmetricalchange of contour from the ramp to the sides and between the raisedsteps of the ramp without putting undue strain on any of the threads. 7.A ramp according to claim 4 where the sides are connected to the rampwith short connecting dual wall thread connected flanges with the fabricthereof overlapping the fabric of the walls and ramp and adhesivelysecured thereto, and where the threads of the flanges are appropriatelyvaried in length to provide a contour between the fabrics thereof and asmooth contour between the sides and the ramp.
 8. An inflatable rampaccording to claim 1 which includes a top connecting the sides andholding the sides in spaced and stabilized relation to the ramp.
 9. Aninflatable ramp according to claim 1 which includes additional smallerconvex inflatable lobes attached to the surface of each step to providea larger stepping surface for use by human beings.